Open With Context Menu Item - Add or Remove

How to Add or Remove the "Open with" Context Menu Item in Windows​

   Information

This will show you how to add or remove the Open with right click context menu item of all files in Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8.

You must be logged in as an administrator to be able to do the steps in this tutorial.

   Note

A default program is the program that Windows uses when you open a particular type of file extension. Open with allows you to change a file type to open with a different default program for just this one time or always using the context menu in Windows.

Removing Open with from the context menu can make it easier to prevent all users on the computer from accidentally have a file extension type assigned a wrong default program to be opened with by default.

EXAMPLE: Open with Context Menu Item for Files




Here's How:
1. To Remove "Open with" from the Context Menu
A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 3 below.
Remove_Open_With.reg

Download


2. To Add "Open with" Back to the Context Menu
NOTE: This is the default setting.
A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 3 below.
Restore_Open_With.reg

Download


3. Save the .reg file to the desktop.

4. Double click/tap on the downloaded .reg file to merge it.

5. When prompted, click/tap on Run, Yes (UAC-Windows 7/8) or Continue (UAC-Vista), Yes, and OK to approve merging the .reg file.

6. You can now delete the downloaded .reg file if you like.

That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Change the Default Program a File Type Opens with in Windows 7
• How to Add or Remove "Always use selected program" in Open with
• How to Have "Always use selected program" Always Checked or Unchecked in "Open with"
• How to Add or Remove "Open with Notepad" from the Context Menu of Files
• How to Clean Up and Remove Programs from the "Open with" Context Menu
• How to Add a Program to "Open with" in Windows 7
• How to Fix "Open with" Opening with Notepad or Error Message
• How to Add "Open with" to Context Menu of URL Files in Windows 7 and Vista
• How to Add "Open with" to Context Menu of BAT Files in Windows 7 and Vista

 

[Brink]

Dav,

This tutorial is to add or remove "Open with" completely from the context menu, and not a item in the "Open with" context menu. For what you want, the tutorials below may help instead.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/96077-open-clean-up-remove-programs.html

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/178066-open-add-program.html

 

[hammerquill]

What about multiple-select Open With?

This is very useful. Thanks. But it still doesn't work for multiple-select. If I select a batch of .jpg files and right-click, I do not get an option to Open With, nor do I get the Edit With option I get when right-clicking one. This is something I need to do every day. Any idea how to restore that, so it works as it did in XP?

Also, can you explain what the second registry command you've included is for?

Thanks.

 

[Brink]

Hello Hammerquill, and welcome to Seven Forums.

This tutorial will only add (restore) or remove "Open with" from the context menu with the included REG files.

"Open with" is only avialable in the context menu when you have only one item selected. "Open with" will not be avialable if you have more than one item selected. There's not a way to change this that I know of.

 

[hammerquill]

Yuck. That's a bad flaw introduced into this OS...

Maybe someone else will find out how and post it here. Thanks for the tutorial, though.

 

[Brink]

You're welcome. Yeah, this feature was removed after XP from Vista forward. I guess MS feels that there would be to many people that would mess up their file type associations with this by mistake, so they limit it to one at a time using "Open with" from the context menu.